Psalms 13:1-2

Psalm 13 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ² 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ³ 

13:2 How long must I worry, ⁴ 

and suffer in broad daylight? ⁵ 

How long will my enemy gloat over me? ⁶ 

Psalms 37:24

37:24 Even if ⁷  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ⁸ 

for the Lord holds ⁹  his hand.

Psalms 74:1

Psalm 74 ¹⁰ 

A well-written song ¹¹  by Asaph.

74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? ¹² 

Why does your anger burn ¹³  against the sheep of your pasture?

Psalms 89:38

89:38 But you have spurned ¹⁴  and rejected him;

you are angry with your chosen king. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ¹⁶ 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

Jeremiah 23:24-26

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ¹⁷ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ¹⁸ 

the Lord asks. ¹⁹ 

23:25 The Lord says, ²⁰  “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ ²¹  23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. ²² 

Lamentations 3:31-32

כ (Kaf)

3:31 For the Lord ²³  will not

reject us forever. ²⁴ 

3:32 Though he causes us ²⁵  grief, he then has compassion on us ²⁶ 

according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. ²⁷ 

Romans 11:1-2

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

[13:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ³ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[37:24]  ⁷ tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ⁹ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[74:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., asks God to consider Israel’s sufferings and intervene on behalf of his people. He describes the ruined temple, recalls God’s mighty deeds in the past, begs for mercy, and calls for judgment upon God’s enemies.

[74:1]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[74:1]  ¹² sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.

[74:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.

[89:38]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew construction (conjunction + pronoun, followed by the verb) draws attention to the contrast between what follows and what precedes.

[89:38]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; 132:10, 17).

[89:46]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[23:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:24]  ¹⁸ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:25]  ²⁰ tn The words, “The Lord says” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that the Lord continues speaking.

[23:25]  ²¹ sn To have had a dream was not an illegitimate means of receiving divine revelation. God had revealed himself in the past to his servants through dreams (e.g., Jacob [Gen 31:10-11] and Joseph [Gen 37:6, 7, 9]) and God promised to reveal himself through dreams (Num 12:6; Joel 2:28 [3:1 HT]). What was illegitimate was to use the dream to lead people away from the Lord (Deut 13:1-5 [13:2-6 HT]). That was what the prophets were doing through their dreams which were “lies” and “the delusions of their own minds.” Through them they were making people forget who the Lord really was which was just like what their ancestors had done through worshiping Baal.

[23:26]  ²² sn See the parallel passage in Jer 14:13-15.

[3:31]  ²³ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[3:31]  ²⁴ tn The verse is unusually short and something unrecoverable may be missing.

[3:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Although he has caused grief.” The word “us” is added in the translation.

[3:32]  ²⁶ tn Heb “He will have compassion.” The words “on us” are added in the translation.

[3:32]  ²⁷ tc The Kethib preserves the singular form חַסְדּוֹ (khasdo, “his kindness”), also reflected in the LXX and Aramaic Targum. The Qere reads the plural form חֲסָדָיו (khasadayv, “his kindnesses”) which is reflected in the Latin Vulgate.